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Tieflings are descended from human parents who carry fiendish blood in their veins. Like any other planetouched being, the manifestation of this fiendish taint lingers, usually occurring in every descendant thereafter, even though the evil ancestor may be many generations removed. Most tieflings cannot trace their heritage back to a specific fiendish being. For those who can, there does not appear to be any discernible difference in tieflings with either Abyssal or Infernal ancestors. Except for a few rare cases, the tiefling’s dark, corrupted heritage always manifests itself in its features. Most tieflings resent the assumption that they are all evil, though most indeed are. In some, the resentment fuels their disdain for other races, ultimately leading to a lonely and unhappy life. Nearly all tieflings are of human ancestry.

Personality: Tieflings resent the unfair lot in life that fate has dealt them. While many races embrace other planetouched beings, especially aasimars, they invariably rebuff tieflings because of the fiendish blood flowing in their veins. Some tieflings overcome this frustration and lead upstanding lives, successfully fighting the dark urges within them. Others allow the despair to consume them, rotting away the core of their very being. As their aggravation increases, they find it easier to give in to their baser natures, further staining their souls and becoming what so many already believe they are.

All tieflings, regardless of alignment, are shrewd and cunning, quick to notice minor details, and hyperaware of opportunities beneficial to them. Conversely, once a tiefling develops trust with another, it remains fiercely loyal. When this loyalty involves the opposite sex, the relationship quickly becomes amorous for the tiefling, as intense emotions consume it; these relationships rarely last long, however, for these emotions are generally more ardent than the average person can handle.

Physical Description: Tieflings are a bit shorter than humans and of a more slender build. Tieflings tend to have an unsettling air about them, and most people are uncomfortable around them, whether they are aware of the tiefling’s unsavory ancestry or not. No two tieflings are alike. While a rare few are indistinguishable from normal humans, most manifest some sort of physical abnormality that reveals their fiendish heritage (although hardly ever more than one). Common abnormalities include small horns, cloven hooves for feet, wild and unruly hair, long pointed ears, upswept eyebrows, fangs, a whiff of brimstone about them, a tail, or eyes that have cat-like slitted pupils or are solid black, silver, white, red, or fiery. Some tieflings also have a bifurcated tongue. Tiefling skin comes in many varieties. Some may have scales, fur or leathery skin, or it may be of an unusual coloration such as white, grey, red, orange, blue, green, violet, or black. Most have brown or reddish hair, although black is also not uncommon. A rare few may even have really unusual hair coloring (such as white, grey, red, blue, violet, or green), but typically skin and hair color will be complimentary. Tieflings generally wear clothing with a dark hue, and they prefer weapons that favor agility and finesse rather than brute strength.

Relations: Fear and distrust form the basis for most tiefling relationships, as few races give them the benefit of the doubt. Humans have little use for tieflings, and when they are about, they blame them for all the mischief and evil that takes place. Dwarves share the same human prejudices. Twyll and gnomes, often being rogues themselves, remain wary of tieflings, mainly fearing for their belongings rather then their lives. Elves pity tieflings for the eternal battles they must wage against the foul urges conjured by the evil flowing in their veins. Aasimars are the most prejudice of all the races, for they, above all others, understand the true nature of a tiefling’s heritage. Muls and half-elves sympathize with these planetouched characters; they empathize with their divided nature and go out of their way to befriend them.

Alignment: Tieflings are generally predisposed toward evil. More then half of all tieflings are of some evil alignment. Among those who are not, they favor neutrality over good. Good tieflings, though rare, are not altogether unheard of. Tieflings do not favor either law or chaos; they lean more often than not, towards neutrality.

Tiefling Lands: Tieflings do not have lands or societies to call their own, nor one that really accepts them, so tieflings often roam the shards, selling their mercenary or roguish services to the highest bidder. Many tieflings hide within human civilizations, living in abject squalor, overlooked by even the most conscientious clerics and watchful guards. While they prefer to live in human lands, civilization often forces them outside its boundaries. In these cases, they struggle to survive amongst hostile humanoids, who recognize kindred spirits, and so offer them shelter from the elements. Some travel to escape the taint that their heritage has put upon them. Tieflings have no climate or geographical preferences.

Religion: Tieflings do not have a pantheon of their own. Evil or neutral gods representing interests mirroring their own have the greatest appeal for them. Spheres of influence of these favored deities often include knowledge, deception, magic, darkness, and the like. Good tieflings generally prefer gods of self-reliance, stealth, and survival.

Language: Tieflings speak the language of their native land. Thus, all tieflings speak Common. In addition, tieflings may be alllowed to speak a fiendish language, depending on its ancestry if the possession of such knowledge is clearly supported in the character’s history. Lawful tieflings speak Infernal, while chaotic tieflings speak Abyssal. Neutral tieflings may choose either language. Player characters must have a minimum Intelligence of 12 to be fluent in another language.

Names: Tiefling names vary following the naming styles and conventions of the place where they were raised, abiding by the customs of their native land. Thus, they usually have human names.

Adventurers: Much of civilization has little to offer the tiefling. Common folk hate, mock and exile them, forcing them to be self-sufficient. In most cases, tieflings pursue a life of adventure, where they hope to gain acceptance through their wealth and success. Furthermore, the adventuring group provides an environment unlike anything the tiefling has experienced. The adventuring party’s group efforts and collaborative tactics open new worlds to tiefling characters, allowing them to experience camaraderie and friendship for the first time in their lives. In combat, tieflings are sneaky, subtle and generally conniving. They prefer to strike from ambush and usually avoid a fair fight if they can.

Tiefling Racial Traits

+2 Dexterity, +2 Intelligence, -2 Charisma. Tieflings are agile and smart, but their intense emotions and odd appearance undermine their efforts in interacting with other races.

Medium: As Medium creatures, tieflings have no special bonuses or penalties due to their size.

Tiefling base land speed is 30 feet.

Darkvision: Tieflings can see in the dark up to 60 feet. Darkvision is black and white only, but it is otherwise like normal sight, and tieflings can function just fine with no light at all.

Tieflings have a +2 bonus to all Bluff and Hide checks.

A tiefling gains feats according to its class levels.

Spell-Like Abilities: A Tiefling can use Darkness and Cause Fear once per day. Caster level is equal to character level.

Tiefling Resistances: cold 5, electricity 5, and fire 5.

Native Outsider: As native outsiders, tieflings may be raised, reincarnated, or resurrected as any other living creature.

What I did to get rid of the LA on my races was to try and get an idea of how powerful each race was, then create a 'racial leveling class' for them so that they would not have any advantages over a human. Course, I had to make my humans a little bit better than the standard human, but so far everything balances.

In order to improve their racial abilities, they take a level in their race instead of a class level. So far, it's working pretty well, but the characters in my current campaign are only 3rd level...

Biggest thing that you need to do when tinkering with the races is to make sure things balance and the real test of that is to play the race(s) during a campaign.

Oh yeah, I don't give stat minuses for any of my races. I don’t feel it’s a good way to create balance, but that’s a personal opinion.